Lost Twice--Incredible!!!!! & Granada
ISSUE #215: Nov.15-22, 2008
2008-11-22
Lost Twice--Incredible!!!!! & Granada
» NOTES
When I started Residencias Los Jardines, I started writing a weekly news letter —determined to tell all the good, bad, and the ugly. I knew some readers would be interested in the construction process. I expected others might be interested in the lifestyle of two people who had decided to live outside the box. For others, the adventures of lita, the parrot and the cat took on an entertainment saga all its own.
Residencias Los Jardines is finished. We periodically have resales and rental availability. Some readers may be interested in this information.
More and more, the content will be dominated by events of our new project, "El Dorado" for short. While the future is always uncertain, I again aim to tell it like it happens —the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that is what follows.
In an effort to make the format more interesting and visually appealing and to field inquiries re. El Dorado, the news letter is now being distributed by Jan Kozak, Marketing Manager, Hacienda El Dorado. I will remain the author.
»MARKETING, WEBSITE & SALES
» CONSTRUCTION LOG
Permit Applications: Waiting--SETENA--D1--we wait and that will probably be the story until the end of January.
Construction: Still Waiting. The structural engineer is becoming a "weak link". We will be speaking with him further. He is not delivering on time. Excuses are wearing thin on all of us.
Water: I am told that AyA twice lost letters from us asking them to do a study and give us the technical information required for delivering water to the community and to our project. The powers that be there have acknowledged this with a letter to us and have seemingly assigned it to someone to work on. Persistence and sweet old is the name of the game when dealing with government organizations. This is why one always has to follow up and why one keeps copies and why pant knees have holes.
Two Disasters: Nothing has yet been done--now three weeks. Re. the undermining of the public roadway--the City continues to do nothing. I suspect it will take an accident for them to move on it. Re. the culvert washout: all the materials are on site. The backhoe operator was ill most of the week so we will begin on Monday. It should take about a 10 days.Maya Tower: Most of these drawings which focus on the back wall are now ready but we need the complete set fully dimensioned. We don't yet have all of them with all the information we need. We have two plans--one adds more interior parking; one adds storage lockers. In reality, we will probably build a combination of each design.
» RESIDENCIAS LOS JARDINES
Website Upgrade / Marketing: Photos of Residencias Los Jardines, the Santa Ana area and some of the houses are available on line at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/
Garden: Much of the areas requiring sod have been completed but the mind set to have irrigation hoses operating while other work is ongoing once again seems a difficult concept to grasp. Multi tasking isn't a natural characteristic here. I'll have to fight my way through the training process again.
Cable TV: AMNET was supposed to show up last Saturday. Of course they didn't. They showed on Tuesday. They ran the new service feed but it seems like the router had to be reconfigured so the switch over was not seamless. (It never seems to be in electronics regardless of the hype.) Regardless of a rocky beginning, we now have better service and our VOIP phones work better than ever and people working from home can maintain their connections.New Property Tax Law: I'm setting up a review meeting to study the language and how this applies to Doneste and to prepare a strategy and info. for it's application to our situation.
Shareholders Meeting: The info. was sent out to all shareholders.
Units for Sale/Lease:
Unit #107 - For Sale/Leased - $255,000
Total area (Sq M): 158
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floor(s): 2 Story
Type: Detached
Furnished: Yes
Read More
» NEWS FROM COSTA RICA
If your browser does not support the hyperlinks below, you can view the COSTA RICA NEWS section on our website from the following URL:
» https://www.eldoradocostarica.com/English/News/index.php
November 22, 2008
Where to Start the Hunt for Real Estate in Costa Rica
(Costa Rica Pages) If you are on the hunt for a new property in Costa Rica, deciding where to begin may seem overwhelming. Of course the best thing to do is see it all, but we understand that your time is valuable. A smart shopper will take into consideration a number of factors such as social and business opportunities, services such as shopping and healthcare, and finally the weather before jumping head first into the Costa Rica real estate purchase process. The following are our recommendations on where to start and what to consider.
Read
November 21, 2008
Costa Rica Puts $15 Tax on Plane Tickets
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (The Associated Press) —Tourists flying into Costa Rica will soon have to pay a new $15 tax.
Read
November 20, 2008
Costa Rica Tourist 2,000,000 to be Treated Like a King
(Costa Rica Pages) This December will see, for the first time in history, the two millionth foreign visitor to reach the shores (or international airports) of Costa Rica in any single year. Projected growth in tourism activity predicts that Costa Rica will close the year with 2.1 million visitors.
Read
November 19, 2008
Panama Quake Felt in San José
(Inside Costa Rica) An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude and depth of 25 kilometres struck Panama near the Costa Rican border 11 minutes after midnight Wednesday morning, that it was felt in most parts of Costa Rica including San José.
Read
November 19, 2008
6.2 Quake Strikes Costa Rica, Panama Frontier
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — A 6.2 earthquake has struck overnight on the frontier between Panama and Costa Rica, shaking people in their beds but causing no damage or injuries.
Read
November 17, 2008
Plácido Joins Latina Opera Divas and Mariachis in First Costa Rica Show
(The Tico Times) Plácido Domingo said Wednesday "the voice is like the most jealous woman in the world – treat her badly and you'll end it." On Friday night, the tenor gave his first ever concert in Costa Rica, at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, and not for one moment did he betray the lady.
Read
November 17, 2008
Costa Rica: Beijing's New Best Friend
How abandoning Taiwan brings you not only a shiny new sports ground but also a presidential visit (guardian.co.uk) What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? If you take Costa Rica as a guide, it wins you not only a shiny new national sports stadium but also a visit from Hu Jintao.
Read
November 17, 2008
Costa Rica Benefits from Switching Ties to China-Hu
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday that Costa Rica is benefiting from a closer relationship with Beijing after the Central American country cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan last year.
Read
November 17, 2008
China, Costa Rica to Launch Trade Talks
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — China and Costa Rica will launch free trade talks in January and hope to seal a deal by 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday during his first visit to a Central American country.
Read
November 17, 2008
Ending 4-Year Battle, Costa Rica Approves CAFTA
Opposition lawmakers have stalled its implementation, but finally cleared the final hurdle SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) Costa Rica is finally ready to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Read
November 16, 2008
Meet the Competition
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (The Herald Tribune) - Shielded from the equatorial sun beneath an umbrella, Jim and Carol Lynch reflect on their unusual decision to move from the small town of Fayetteville, Tenn., to a suburb of this Costa Rican capital.
Read
November 16, 2008
China's Hu Expected to Launch Free Trade Talks in Costa Rica
Read
» OUR LIVES
Weather: Dry with high winds much of the time.
Granada: The trip by Ticabus was uneventful--just as it should be. The return bus was quite new. Both buses were virtually full. For some reason, there was a tremendous quay of trucks on the CR side waiting to enter Nicaragua. This resulted in a 20 min. delay as we could not approach the terminal. It seemed like some of the trucks has been there for quite some time. It must be frustrating for them. The people process part was much more streamlined this time in both directions. CR Customs could improve a bit but Immigration was quite efficient in both CR and Nicaragua.Five huge wind generators are being built in Nicaragua between the border and Rivas. They aren't yet finished but the structures are standing. Other than that, I'm sorry to say that I didn't see any material changes along the way or in Granada. In fact, the hotel where we usually stay said they did not have one guest during November. There appeared to be fewer tourists in Granada than at any other time we had been there. Mostly Europeans. Hotels were near empty, restaurants were the same and the usually vibrant town square was much, much quieter and not one cultural event. I saw more "For Sale" signs than I had ever seen before and only a couple small renovation projects. We were told by the hotel owner that a key person in the ReMax office had pulled up stakes and gone to Panama. I didn't overhear any conversations about real estate. A number of the people who know us commented on the government instability and how it was affecting their business. While there were protests in Managua, Granada was quiet. I don't know how the restaurants turn out the great meals they do with what is available.......as I've said before, I've never understood the food distribution system there. We had two meals at our favorite steak place, El Zaguan, and found a new great place called the Roadside Grill and Bar. The latter had N. Am. casual fare--great hamburgers and chicken wings--huge portions at very reasonable prices. The pizza place across the street served a great pizza from it's wood fired oven which fed four. The Mediterranean restaurant continued to serve the curry chicken and a seafood soup which we like. Disappointing a bit was Tequila Vallarta's. However, I did manage to sample lots of margaritas -- all of which were good. Friends met us there--it was their first time--I think they will be returning with us some time. They enjoyed it much better than David, Panama.
The animals were really glad to see us on our return.
Brian, Lita, Hugo, irreverent Vicka, the pigeon toed parrot, and the newbies — Chico and Chica.
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